Item Metadata

This thesis examines the contribution made by "alternative" tourism towards
community development in the provinces of Phuket, Phangnga, and Krabi in southern
Thailand. Aside from providing novel, adventurous, and presumably authentic travel
experiences, "alternative" tourism promotes forms of community development characterized by
equitable distribution of resources, quality of life, and environmental sustainability. Alongside
conventional, mass tourism development in southern Thailand, nature-based "alternative" travel
activities such as sea kayaking and jungle trekking have grown increasingly popular among
foreign tourists and have emerged as measures of diversification within a slowly stagnating
regional tourist trade. This study assesses "alternative" tourism along the lines of the tourism
industry, tourist, and host perspectives, and addresses three key issues, or themes:
"alternative" tourism as a theoretical and practical "alternative" to conventional, mass tourism;
the role played by authenticity and ethical concern in distinguishing "alternative travellers" from
mass tourists; and "alternative" tourism's contribution to community-based economic, social,
and environmental development in southern Thailand.
The results of this study are based upon several types of data, including selfadministered
surveys, analysis of statistical and other documentary sources, field observations,
and interviews with tourists, government officials, company owners, and Thais working in the
tourism industry. Three central findings emerge from this research. First, "alternative"
tourism in southern Thailand shares many structural and conceptual links with the existing
mass tourism industry. Rather than signalling a true departure from conventional, packaged
tourism, "alternative" tourism constitutes a regenerative niche in Phuket's mass tourism
industry. Second, discrepant expectations of, and levels of desire for, authenticity serve to
differentiate categories of "alternative" tourists, many of whom display insensitive behaviour
and place inappropriate demands on their Thai hosts. Third, certain forms of "alternative"
tourism, such as "mass ecotourism," foster equitable community development, while others,
such as backpacking and adventure travel, remain limited as engines of economic development.
In addition to discussing theoretical and policy implications, the thesis concludes with a
localized model of "alternative" tourism in southern Thailand.